1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a swimming pool heating system, and in particular to a modular, swimming pool heating system for installation in the attic of a house.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Particularly in northern climes, for the sake of comfort, it is often necessary to heat the water in swimming pools. While air temperatures during the day can be quite high, night temperatures are frequently low enough to cool a pool well below the comfort level. Accordingly, it is often necessary to heat the pool during the day to raise the water temperature to a comfortable level.
A variety of systems have been proposed for using warm attic air for heating. One such system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,014,770, issued to E. G. Palmer on May 14, 1991. The Palmer patent discloses a system including a heat exchanger mounted in the attic of a house. Swimming pool water is circulated from the pool through the heat exchanger where it is heated, and then returned to the pool. In the Palmer system, the heat exchanger is mounted in a casing, which includes an air inlet and an air outlet in close proximity to each other. Thus, cool air discharged through the outlet is re-circulated to the inlet which reduces the efficiency of the unit. As a result, much of the hot air stored in attic is not recovered by the Palmer unit. Moreover, the Palmer unit is a somewhat large single fan assembly, which is too large to pass through the standard opening into most attics without modification to the opening.